Template for placement of military ribbons



Feb. 4, 1958 R. B. SHEPARD 2,821,787

TEMPLATE FOR PLACEMENT OF MILITARY RIBBONS Filed May 14, 1956 .100 I e 8 37 T 10 g7 g 05567 1?. flzfiaea INVENTOR.

Assn/r United States Patent TEMPLATE FOR PLACEMENT OF MILITARY RIBBONS Robert B. Shepard, El Toro, Calif.

Application May 14, 1956, Serial No. 584,680

4 Claims. (Cl. 33-180) This invention relates to a template for use in placing military ribbons upon a uniform.

Regulations of the armed services recite precisely how ribbons of military decorations, honors, and service are to be placed on the uniforms of members of the services, and it isa matter of pride to the holders of such decorations that where the exact spacing of one bar of ribbons relative to the next bar, or of a bar of ribbons relative to some defined seam of the uniform, is exactly defined, they should wear their ribbons as prescribed. A number of templates have been developed for placing the ribbons often resulting in placement not according to the regula- I tions. A template formed with completely enclosed guides for the pins could not be used on the outside of the uniform, as it would be pinned in place and could not be removed.

It is an object of my invention to provide a template which may be placed on the outside of the uniform and which may be removed when the ribbons have been pinned to the uniform.

A further object of my invention is to provide a template which will place bars of ribbons not only with respect to each other but with respect to points on the uniform itself.

Another object of my invention is to provide a template which is adjustable to accommodate ribbon bars of various lengths and which will place bars of one, two, or three or more ribbons with precision.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a template which is simple in construction and easy and quick in use.

In the accompanying drawing, illustrative of a presently preferred embodiment of my invention, Fig. 1 is an elevational view of my improved template, with ribbon bars imposed thereon and shown broken away, the device being illustrated in connection with a uniform breast-pocket shown in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, slightly enlarged, on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view, also enlarged on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view showing means for varying the horizontal spread of the template, for the accommodation of ribbon bars of different sizes.

Having reference now to the details of the drawing, my improved template 5 comprises two members 6 and 7 which are provided with interlocking upper arms 8 and 8a and lower arms 9 and 9a by which the members are slidably connected so that the members may selectively 2,821,787 Patented Feb. 4, 1958 8 and 8a are each provided with clinch tabs 10 and 10a which are clinched around the other of the arms, thus providing two spaced bearing points to maintain the relative parallelism of the members 6 and 7 when they are moved relatively, and the lower arms may similarly be provided with clinch tabs 11 and 11a, each set of tabs being clinched around the other of the arms, to give greater rigidity to the parallel and aligned structure.

The members 6 and 7 may be made of any suitable stiff sheet material, such as metal, plastic, or even cardboard, and are alike in shape. Their alikeness permits them to be stamped economically from sheet material, one member being then turned over with reference to the other member when they are joined together. The members lie virtually in the same plane, except for the overlapping of their interlocked arms 8, 8a, 9, and 9a, and the template may be used with either flat side next to the uniform, and with either the upper arms 8 and 8a (so called because so illustrated) uppermost or the lower arms 9 and 9a uppermost, according to the type of ribbon bar which it is desired to install.

The interior margins 12 and 12a of the members 6 and 7, which are held in spaced opposition when the members are joined together, vare indented to receive between them ribbon-bars of various lengths. One indentation, shown at the top of Fig. 1, may for instance be slightly less than the length of one standard ribbon, as shown at 13; the opposite indentation 13a is of the same length, and the two indentations in opposition permit a ribbon bar 14 of two ribbons to just overlap them. Slots 15 and 15a are provided in the overlapped portions communicating with the margins of the indentations 13 and 13a respectively to receive the pins 16 and to hold the fastening screw-buttons 17 of the ribbon bar 14. The spacing between the pins 16, which is a predetermined distance, determines the spacing of the closed ends of the slots 15 and 15a. Similarly the next indentations 18 and 18a may be slightly less in depth than the length of one and one-half ribbons; such opposed indentations will permit a ribbon bar of three ribbons to just overlap them, and in their overlapped portions they are provided with slots 19 and 19a, for the same purposes as slots 15 and 15a. Several of such opposed indentations 18 and 18a are shown in Fig. l, to allow for the installation of several rows of ribbons. At the bottom of Fig. 1 are shown portions of the margins 12 and 12a in the nature of projections 20 and 20a, rather than indentations, as they project beyond the slot 21 which permits sliding move ment of the clinch tabs 11 and 11a. The projections 20' and 20a are provided with pin-receiving slots 22 and 22a and, as shown are spaced to receive a single ribbon.

The setting of the members 6 and 7 above described allows for several rows of three ribbons, topped by either one or two ribbons. If the person wearing the ribbons has sufiicient decorations, they may be Worn in rows of four ribbons. In the setting for a maximum of a bar 24 of three ribbons, the interlocked arms 8, 8a, 9, and 9a overlap so as to place the clinch tabs 10 and 10a, and 11 and 11a, slightly more than the length of one ribbon apart. When the members 6 and 7 are drawn apart to permit installation of four-ribbon bars, the clinch tabs on the interlocking arms approach each other, but do not meet, allowing for further spreading of the members to disengage the template from under the ribbons. It is only necessary to spread the members 6 and 7 a very short distance so that the margins of the various indentations and projections clear the end margins of the ribbon bars and the slots 15, 19, 22 disengage the bar pins 16, to remove the template.

Regulations prescribe that the lower row of ribbons shall be a precise distance above the seam marking the top of the left breast pocket of the uniform, and the rows of ribbons shall be a precise distance apart. Accordingly the members 6 and 7 are marked with markings 25 and 26 aligned respectively with the lower edge of the slot 21 and the upper edge of the slot 27 in which the clinch tabs 11 and 10 travel. These markings may be aligned with the seam line '28 of a pocket 29 shown in broken line in Fig. 1. If for example, the marking 25 is aligned with the seam line, a ribbon bar held in the slots 22 and 22a will be exactly placed. Similarly, between each of the intervening indentations, there are two markings 30 and 31. One or the other of these markings will be the lower one, according to which end of the template is uppermost in use at the moment. When a ribbon bar of three or four ribbons is to be placed just above the pocket seam, the lower of the appropriate markings -is aligned with the pocket seam. In Fig. l, a lower marking 30 is shown aligned with the seam 28, placing the ribbon bar 24 at the regulation spacing from the pocket.

It will be seen that my improved template in every respect for the proper placement of military ribbons upon a uniform, allow for a selection of the number of ribbons to be placed in any bar, and is very easily removed when the ribbons are in place. Modifications in details of arrangement of the template will occur to those skilled in the art, and I do not wish my invention to be limited to the exact showing herein describe and illustrated, but rather to be held commensurate to the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim.

1. A template for placing military ribbons on uniforms comprising two members of sheet material having each an upper arm and a lower arm and adapted to lie substantially in one plane when joined by said arms, means for slidably interlocking like arms of said members to permit said members to be moved toward and away from each other while otherwise retaining their relativepositions, said members having opposed interior margins said margins of one member being spaced from said margins of the other of said members, said margins having slots communicating with said margins at their one ends and closed at their other ends and arranged in opposed pairs adapted to receive fastening means of ribbon bars, said closed ends of said pairs "of slots being spaced apart at selected relative distances, said distances being variable with the spacing of said members, to permit the reception in said slots of fastening means of ribbon bars of various lengths.

2. A template according to claim 1, in which said opposed interior margins are variously indented so as to underlie only the end portions of "the ribbon bars of various lengths which they receive, whereby movement apart of said members releases said template from the ribbon bars.

3-. A template according to claim 1., in which said members have markings normal to said margins and adapted to :be aligned with'other markings on a uniform, iorplacement'o'f said template in selective predetermined relationship to said other markings.

'4. A template according claim 1, in which respective pairs of said slots are spaced to receive ribbon bars of one, two, and three standard lengths of individual ribbons when said membersare closely spaced, and said members are movable to increased spacing in which respective pairs of said slots receive ribbon bars of two, three, and four ribbon lengths.

References Cited in the file 'ofth'is patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 959,639 Stanton MayBl, 1910 2,246,920 Kromholz June 24, 1941 2,505,987 Hoffman May 2, 1950 2,637,909 "Thacker May 12, 1953 

